Hey ed! (et al) -
Today's (Apr 15) Smart Money.com article is on buying a car...might have or reinforce good plan of attack...
Also, I have mentioned it before, while bargaining, ask for the extended warranty, watch the cost grow as they figure it into the financing - they want $1500 for the contract, and through the wonder of extended payment, viola, it costs you $3000 extra. What they don't tell you is that they take quite a bit of profit on the warranty, so much so that they often take some more off the car price...
I would sign the purchase contract, after getting the absolute best deal I could on the whole deal, car+warranty. Then within the three days "right of recission", send a telephone call, and a written notice of my intent to sever the extended warranty from the purchase price of the car, cancelling the extended warranty. They would then thunder at me that the whole contract would have to be renegotiated, at which I would reply that the extended warranty is severable, and that they were only required to recompute my payments, and that the contract for the purchase of the car was still in effect. Then, after they complied, I would call one of the companies that I found online that offer extended warranties, and sign a separate contract for less than $700 cash total cost. I did this three times while I was buying cars in Kalifornia. Worked to my benefit every time I tried it. Has worked once in Washington, too. The ones I did in Kalifornia were even the exact same warranty, same as if I had purchased it from the dealer, but they cost me much less.
I made several claims against the previous warranties, and they all were honored, just as if I had bought it from the dealer, by the dealer's service department. I have made no claim on the most recent warranty.
Hope you find this helpful.